Flooring solutions in the hospitality industry play a big role in making a first impression on guests. Hotelier India takes a look at the trends in the market.
To set the first impression, for the longest time most classy luxury hotels opted for carpets – expensive, in fact, setting the standards for luxury, hushed sounds and warmth. Observing trends, Kanchan Rizvi, Director Sales and Marketing, Radisson, Pashchim Vihar, Delhi, says, “Earlier, luxury hotel meant carpets. A Taj Mahal, an Oberoi, all used to have expensive, plush carpets and that was their offering of luxury and comfort.”
Paresh Panchal, Associate Designed, Bobby Mukherji Associates, agrees, “Carpets were a favorite till some time ago, but in the new properties, they are not being taken up, they need too much cleaning and maintenance, damage is expensive to replace.”
Today flooring is about durability, ease of maintenance as well as style, but many factors have to be kept in mind. “Sound absorption, music, crowd usage, we don’t want a cocktail effect ( too many people, too much music).
So flooring has to be a fine balance as a function of all of these,” adds Chef restaurateur Abhijit Saha, of Avant Garde Hospitality, with two restaurants in Bangalore – Caperberry and his new Mediterranean one, Fava.
Laminates
Laminates, that took over from carpets as the new ‘minimalistic’ style, about ten years ago and became an accepted design option due to the ease of maintenance, are already on their way out.
Says Dhruv Sodhani, Managing Director, Consolidated Carpets India Ltd,“ there was this move from old fashioned carpets to the latest in flooring then – wooden laminates.
These would be a fraction of the cost, mimic real wood and be easy to lay as well as maintain. Most hotels went in for this option then, but slowly, there was a realization that even laminates are not indestructible. For instance, a constant dampness from the AC can take its toll on the surface. “
The scene, it appears, started changing when the markets were flooded with sub-quality Chinese laminates. As Kanchan Rizvi, points out,” Most people now know the difference between laminates and the real thing.”
Abhishek Saraf, Director at Square Foot, (a 50 year old company with 110 members, and offices and showrooms in over 7 cities, servicing 44 cities across the country) says, ”Yes, people are discerning, as well as aware that quality comes at a cost, they are also willing to pay it. Now more and more hoteliers are getting clarity that flooring is a capital cost. They can have no compromise on it. Besides, more exposure has clearly indicated that laminates, all said and done, don’t show that class.”
Stone
Today, functionality is the underlying factor for most decisions about interiors. For instance, in the entrance areas, most hotels opt for stone.
The wear and tear factor here needs to be carefully balanced with the décor of the rest of the property. Says Kiran Kumar, Executive Housekeeper, Ista, Bangalore, “In the public areas, high quality marble or granite is usually used. At Ista, we have used flame finished granite flooring, it is very different, and has a rough finish.”
For those who prefer the up-market stone look, now it is Italian marble. Even though it is quite expensive, it retains its new look for quite a long time.
Observes Paresh Panchal, “In most hotels, in corridors and some public areas, carpets are still used primarily to keep the noise levels down, since then there has not been much evolution for products that help do that. In areas like lounge and reception, most hotels like to go for Italian marble, since there is a very high wear and tear, with a lot of people and footfalls. Italian marble is very wear-tear-resistant, so it stays very durable in lounge areas.”
“But maintenance of marble floors is not very easy, there is honing to be done on a regular basis, and polishing every night. Each time you hone, a microscopic layer gets rubbed off but that sacrifice needs to be made to be able to keep the shine in place,” Kiran adds, from his experience of the Taj Mount Road, Chennai, where extremely high end Italian marble was used for the reception area.
Wood
Speaking about the latest trend for flooring inside rooms, Paresh says, “The strongest trend is towards real wooden flooring. These are rapidly becoming the preferred flooring and look very good with any kind of décor. They are extremely easy to maintain, just a good wax rub has them looking new again.”
However, it is not so simple. The latest trend may be very strongly tilted towards real hardwood, but the maintenance is not easy. Says Kanchan Rizvi, “Whatever the suppliers say, it is just not so easy. The more important thing is, wooden flooring can be good in a North Indian hotel. In a Goan or a coastal hotel, it is not a very great idea.”
By and large, today any hotel with class would rather have the real thing – hard wood, or marble.
“Even though hardwood is more expensive, that is exactly the reason for using them. Besides, in AC rooms, carpets give this luxurious and cosy feel while laminates are cold and hard to touch. That adds to the comfort of the place. So most new hotels are using a good mix of real wood and carpet for floors, depending on the location, geography and economics,” says Sodhani.
Saraf observes that the latest, even in wooden flooring, is customised wood. “We have done some of these for a newly opening property in Surat. It is more expensive than real wood, but offers far greater possibilities to the designers and adds to the look of the place. I think, going forward, this will be a trend,” he says.
Just a point
It is clear that with an increasingly competitive scenario, no one wants to over invest. Besides, the five star experience is no longer as awe inspiring as it used to be, people are actually demanding more from the service industry, at least their money’s worth.
So, a hotel’s budget considerations are really the driving factor in most things. Five years ago, hotels could dictate the ARRs. Today the rates as well as the facilities are dictated by customers. Rooms’ usage has become more commercialised, so those kinds of things are also to be considered before the designers decide on the flooring.
Another fact is that today, there are players who are not traditional hospitality groups with a long standing reputation in the market Setting up a star property with a co-branding is just an investment for them, so their considerations are purely financial.
“They usually opt for solutions, which may even look good for a time, but since their quality is not that good, the look may be compromised over a period of time. This should be a huge consideration today, not to fall for the cheaper trap, since compromising on quality hits long term business,” adds a hospitality professional.
This may be true but then all these considerations really make the flooring market very individual. While real wood and expensive stone are the current trend, it is finally economics and geography that ultimately play a great role in the final word.
